hannahbrekke

During our free time between meetings, it was an incredible experience to explore the cities as a group. This forged incredible friendships and learning about the cities together.

The meetings with the professionals were absolutely incredible. And the experiences learning about the cities and working as a team to navigate and enjoy each other complimented the professional aspects of the trip perfectly.

This trip has been one of the greatest experiences of my life and I am thankful for all the people I’ve met.

It has been an incredible experience documenting history in the making. It was an honor to be at the inauguration this morning and document the peaceful transition of power. Witnessing the riots here in DC has been crazy. I have never heard so many explosions, helicopters, screams, and sirens. There are so many voices to represent and it has been incredible to capture them all.

Early in her career, Kellie Specter asked her boss for a promotion. When her boss told her that she wasn’t ready, Kellie asked what she needed to do in order to be ready. Her boss didn’t have an answer. He couldn’t envision a young woman in a leadership position.

Kellie’s message about the challenges as a woman in media really stood out to me. Kellie said that patriarchy is like the air we breathe; we don’t even notice that it is there. We just accept it as normal.

Kellie received 36 rejection letters and said those jobs simply weren’t for her. Now, she is the Senior Director of Communications for WNET, the flagship public broadcasting station in the US.

“Don’t allow anyone to put you in a box,” Kellie said. She encourages young women to follow her lead and challenge biases. Many people don’t even know they have biases until they are asked.